Grief Rhapsody
by Mugenko
Summary: Mysterious energy fluctuations alert the Gotei 13 to a threat beginning to metastasize in the world of the living. Ichigo is requested to investigate. All bets are off as ancient mysteries become unearthed, and the enemies of all sides are aggravated to a dangerous level.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Due to my frustration with the sheer lack of epic Madoka crossovers, I've decided to write one. I feel that Madoka could use a little more Shonen, and Bleach could use a little more…terror. This fic begins after Ichigo and company first return from rescuing Rukia. All manga events and rules beyond the Fullbringer arc are subject to change.

Warning: Potentially explicit content. Major spoilers for Madoka Magica and Bleach.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

* * *

Grief Rhapsody

Chapter 1: Anomaly

Amethyst eyes opened to a familiar ceiling. It was one she had gazed upon countless times. Sitting up, Homura pulled back the covers and recalled the previous world's events. How many times had she turned back the hourglass now? How many more until she attained her goal at long last?

She had failed again. This was nothing new; it simply meant she was to march on and try again. No matter how long it took her, she would succeed. Madoka was the only thing left in her world. She was the ultimate goal; the beacon keeping her legs moving. Failure was not an option. Somehow, someway, she would be saved. They made a promise.

The most recent wish had thrown her off guard, but it was nothing spectacular; the blessed girl would always use her wish for the happiness and benefit of others. The same two results repeated themselves.

Madoka died.

Madoka became a witch and destroyed the world.

No other outcome had occurred in the innumerable instances of time she had begun. Homura had forgotten how old she was supposed to be. She certainly wasn't "young" anymore. If she had to guess, she had seen ten times as many days pass as the average human did in their entire life. The number did not really matter; everything was mostly the same, after all. Day in, day out, she would hunt witches, spare Madoka a moment of happiness, make a futile attempt to thwart what she could not accept as inevitable. Time was her plaything; the irony of how irrelevant it became to her did not go unnoticed.

How many times had she watched the most important person in the world gasp a final breath or turn into some horrid executor of the end of days? The other girls could rot for all she cared, but they made Madoka happy, so Homura did what she could for them if there was an opportunity. That usually failed too.

The first few times, she had tried to save them all. Each and every time, they never listened, or one, usually Mami, would lose her shit and kill everyone. Homura had since stopped trying to focus on the others; their fates were sealed. Invariably, Sayaka would wish to save the damned boy, and subsequently be the first to fall to despair when she learned what she really was. Kyoko would always follow her, determined to either save the doomed girl or die trying. If she survived, the same fate awaited her as Sayaka when she couldn't accept that there was no saving anyone. Mami was always emotionally volatile. While the other two could be predicted based on previous behaviors, Mami seemed to be unstable in that the slightest thing could set her off balance. That girl needed some serious therapy.

In the end, attempts on her part to help any of them were half-hearted at best, if only to spare Madoka the torment of seeing their inevitable downfall. But she didn't care about them. As long as Madoka was alive and healthy, Homura would be happy.

The timeless one stood from her bed and prepared for the day. Her routine was fairly typical by modern standards…until she broke out the Soul Gem and fixed her eyesight, as well as made a shopping list of military grade artillery. It wasn't much help against Walpurgis Night, but she had no other means of defeating the monstrosity on her own. If the previous payload wasn't enough, she would just have to increase the amount. There was no alternative. She was on her own. She had been on her own since she denied Madoka's death the first time.

* * *

Klaxons blared in the observation room of the Seireitei's Twelfth Division barracks.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"We're not completely sure yet, it seems to be some spiritual anomaly."

"That is not acceptable! Isolate the readings now!"

Scientists of the Twelfth Division scurried about the room, trying in vain to discern what it was their scanners had detected mere minutes ago. Energy readings were all they had to go on. They couldn't even take an accurate measure of their magnitude, let alone figure out what they were. It left no trail from wherever it came. Something with enough latent power to trip their alarms came into existence overnight.

And they had no idea what it was.

To say Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the Twelfth Division and head of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute was outraged would be an understatement. His subordinates would be lucky to make it through the week intact. Akon, the division's Third Seat as well as Vice-President of the Institute, was playing a game against time. He had the wonderful job of pinpointing the exact location of whatever-the-hell this was that their scanners had picked up before the Captain just killed all of them.

Thankfully, he was no amateur. The scientists of the Research and Development Institute prided themselves on their skills. If it was something as simple as location, they would pin it down soon. The only threatening factor in play was the Captain's patience.

* * *

Tension would be high in the Soul Society that day. The Gotei Thirteen was put on alert due to the detection of an anomaly found in the world of the living. Aizen had stirred up the hornet's nest as it was, and they had no idea of where or when he would strike first. So when the Captain Commander received a report from Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri essentially detailing how much they did not know about the incident, he was quite ready to light someone up.

"We do not know enough about the anomaly to explain its existence, let alone fully identify it. Whatever has appeared in the world of the living is nothing that has ever before been detected by our scans. We know only that it is dormant; for now." Kurotsuchi did his best to stomach the indignation at not knowing whatever the hell it was his technology found, if only to not aggravate the humanoid sun before him.

"The nearest capable agent of getting a close up look at the subject is the Shinigami Substitute, Kurosaki Ichigo. It will take time before we have the equipment calibrated to analyze this anomaly."

"Very well," Shigekuni Genryuusai Yamamoto stood from his seat in the First Division office and looked to his Vice Captain. "Alert Kurosaki Ichigo to the situation. We need to know whether or not this is Aizen Sosuke's opening gambit."

What a way to start the day. Already the traitor was likely up to something, and they had no idea what it even looked like. It angered him to know that they were this unprepared. How much more would fly under the radar? How many good soldiers would have to perish before they even knew what Aizen was doing?

* * *

'Why am I doing this?'

Ichigo rested his head against the window with a sigh as he recalled the events that brought him to this little vacation. When he had taken the job of Shinigami Substitute officially, he had not actually expected to be called into action. The mission handed down from Soul Society was about to be shoved right back in their face, but he realized his time was not all that occupied at the moment. Some unknown entity a few towns over, possibly linked to Aizen; it was not much to go on, but the sooner he dealt with the machinator's crap, the closer he would come to returning to normalcy.

In his luggage was Kon, who after a little threatening, was behaving whilst in the presence of civilians. Usually he would just leave his body at home with Kon to babysit, but he didn't expect to be gone long. The first order of business would be to investigate whatever it was that stirred up the Soul Society. That didn't mean he couldn't take the time to explore the city. Mitakihara was reputed to be on the cutting edge of technology. It was a petri dish for all of Japan's newest innovations from architecture to agriculture. Ichigo was pretty sure he could find some top of the line gadgets to play around with, if all else failed.

The notification of the next stop played over the train's speakers. He would be there in a few more minutes. The Shinigami Substitute figured he could do some looking around, investigate whatever ruffled the Soul Society's feathers in the evening, maybe pick up a few high tech souvenirs and be back by tomorrow.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

A few rows back, sitting atop one of the empty seats just out of sight, was a strange white furred critter. It looked directly at the boy for but a moment before scampering off to parts unknown.

* * *

A/N: Relatively short introduction to set up the pieces in play before I just wreck everything. Gonna be a bumpy ride. I want to thank my good friend An-chan for being a beta on this little adventure, and hope he enjoys it!


	2. Chapter 2

The eldest Kurosaki sibling casually exited through the sliding doors of the train. His initial impression of the depot was surprise; already he had barely set foot in town and he felt as if he had stepped through time itself. Silver surfaces and holographic imagery lined the station, and he could see clear through the rather large building and its walls and framework to the street. Gone were aged construction techniques of the modern world; they had made way for glass-like walls and cutting edge climate controls.

It didn't seem like finding a souvenir was going to be much of an issue.

* * *

Chapter 2: Enervation

* * *

Ichigo's gaze never stilled for long. Everywhere his eyes pointed, new and amazing sights greeted them. Futuristic skylines intermingled with tasteful greenery. Truly, it was like the world of tomorrow.

He was passing by a large group of school goers. It reminded him of the efforts (or lack thereof) he had taken to get some time off. Education was important, but so was the well-being of the world; both living and dead. Something was nagging at the back of his head when his thoughts crossed that point, but he paid it little mind.

The students were around his age, possibly a little younger if their uniforms were any indication. The school they were migrating towards could be seen in the distance. It was surprisingly large, and like everything else in the city, shiny and silver.

A group of giggling girls distracted him for a moment. They were talking about something he couldn't make out, but suddenly one of them began horsing around while their friend looked on.

Must be nice to have a normal life.

Ichigo shook his head clear before continuing on his way.

_'What am I doing worrying about things like this all of a sudden? Clearly this is a well-deserved vacation. I'd best make the most of it.'_

His stomach began to rumble.

_'Oh great. I was in such a rush to get the early train that I forgot to grab a bite to eat.'_

Ichigo retrieved a map of the city he had picked up at the train stop and perused its contents. He wasn't far from a local shopping mall.

_'Guess that's where I'm headed next. Should be able to find some neat stuff there too.'_

* * *

As he suspected, the mall was a marvel of tomorrow's technology. Glamorous fountains and computer generated décor made for a pleasant, if interesting, mix. Approaching the nearest signpost detailing the layout of the venue, Ichigo gave it a quick onceover to find the food court. It wasn't hard, but it was on the other end of the building, a floor up.

On his quest to fill his stomach, the Substitute Shinigami passed by a number of stores. One looked like a haven for otaku. There were posters out front depicting some magical girl anime that was popular lately. It struck him as a kid show, but some unsavory types of his age range actually talked too much about it.

Near the food court, he found a complementary newspaper stand. At least now he had something to read while he ate.

Ichigo figured it would be rather odd to be reading something as low tech as a newspaper with so many electric, possibly nuclear powered text displays dotting the inside of every store, but he shrugged the feeling off.

After spending some time gathering up his meal, he flipped open the paper to see if anything interesting was going on.

Suddenly his appetite was threatening to fade.

For at least a few pages, articles about a recent string of homicides and suicides were dominant. It was a little sickening to think that this place could have such tragic happenings, especially considering how marvelous it looked.

Not letting himself become unnerved, Ichigo thumbed through the pages until he found an article with a sunnier attitude.

* * *

Before he knew it, the day had gotten away from him. It was already mid-afternoon. Schools were letting out about now, and he had yet to find anything that really stuck out to take home as souvenirs.

_'I should probably go ahead and get to work on finding this thing that has those guys so riled up.'_

He hadn't sensed anything since coming to the city that would alarm him. Forget large spiritual presences, there were hardly even small ones.

In fact, if he didn't know any better, this town seemed devoid of spirits.

…

_'Wait.'_

Ichigo gathered up the pack he had taken along for his journey before bolting down the walkways of the mall.

_'That's what's been bothering me all day.'_

Eyes jumping left and right, he scanned the building before ending up outside.

_'How the hell did I not notice sooner?!'_

Outside the mall, he did a quick pass around the building at a brisk walking pace, extending his senses as far as they could reach.

_'It's not like I'm the best at sensing spiritual pressures, but even I…'_

Almost retracing his steps back towards the school, he slowed to a stop. Ichigo brought a hand to his face to wipe a bead of cold sweat from it.

There was no way. Not in a city this large. How the hell could there be no trace of spirits of any kind for miles?! Even recently departed ones left a fading presence. This area hadn't been touched by spiritual power in ages…at least until he arrived.

Soul Society somehow detected a large magnitude of energy here. How the hell was it that his senses couldn't pick up anything?

_'I need to calm down.'_

Ichigo slowly worked his way to the back entrance of the mall. Less people tended to come to places like this. It was where the employees would enter and leave, as well as access back parts of the building.

He took a few deep breaths before considering the situation. It wouldn't do him any good to freak out over something like this. There had to be an explanation, after all. Ichigo decided he would first explore the rest of the city and confirm his suspicions.

But as he moved to leave, he heard gunfire.

Turning towards the source, he rounded a corner, ready to knock some thug's skull in if he had to. No way was he letting a homicide happen right next to him.

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted to get the attention of…a girl?

She was about his age, possibly even a student of the local school. Something was off about her though; her uniform was different, and it seemed as if she carried some strange devices with her. Then he spotted the gun.

"Put it down!" Running towards her, he prepared to subdue her before she could cause any harm.

* * *

Homura froze like a deer in the headlights. She had been extremely careful to map out this route several times in the past. No one ever came back here. Even the employees tended to use the front entrance. They were all superstitious about hauntings in the back of the mall, as well as the floor under renovation. They had a right to be; a witch had made itself known there every so often when she had visited previously.

First she would gun down the Incubator before swiftly dealing with the witch to prevent Madoka from coming into contact with either. Why then, was this boy here, charging at her?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the white critter paused in motion for a moment before scurrying off into the mall.

She didn't have time to deal with this.

Click.

Time froze all around her. She gave the boy one last glance to memorize his face before starting back on the Incubator's trail. He hadn't ever shown up before. No one like him lived in this town. Of that she was certain.

* * *

"I said-," Ichigo stopped shouting. Before he knew it, there was no one there. Had he imagined it? There were no traces of bullets fired. He could just feel that something had occurred. This was getting annoying.

"What the hell is wrong with this town?"

* * *

"Hey, are you sure it's ok to be up here?"

"But I heard him, he's close by! Hurry!"

"Madoka…"

* * *

_Those are unknown flowers to me._

_Yes, they are unknown to me too._

_Let's cut them off._

_Yes, let's just cut them off._

_We present the roses to our queen._

* * *

A/N: Right then, second chapter done with. I like what I did with this one, and hopefully I've properly conveyed the feeling of unease that Ichigo is currently plagued with. Mitakihara is a very large city, certainly much more populous than Karakura. Why is it then, that wherever he looks, Ichigo can't find even a single trace of spirits?

Cookies to those who catch all of the little references.


End file.
